Turn About
by ucsbdad
Summary: Suppose it was Kate that wanted to be partners with Rick Castle? What might she do? Just a short one, two chapters and an epilog.
1. Chapter 1

Turn About

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: How do I not own Castle? Let me count the ways. Rating: K Time: Somewhat AU.

She could tell by the sound of his footsteps coming down through the bullpen from the elevator that he was upset. The meeting at One PP, whatever it had been, must have not gone well

"Beckett. My office. Now."

Kate Beckett rose and followed Captain Montgomery into his office.

"Close the door and sit." He said.

She did so.

He looked at her for a long minute, making her wonder if this was bad news. Had she done something wrong? Was this just one of those things that happened no matter what? Why the hell was Roy just sitting there, staring at her.

When he finally spoke, she was shocked. "One PP is reopening your mother's case."

She took a deep breath, swallowed and finally spoke. "The Duncan case is almost finished. Another half an hour and I can send it off to the DA. Then I'll be able to…."

"You're not going anywhere near your mother's murder."

That stopped her cold. "What? Roy, that's my mom's case. It's _my_ case." She said angrily.

He shook his head. "No, Kate. It's the NYPD's case and you're going no where near it. One PP is not going to let any detective handle a case that they have a personal interest in. Those are the rules and I agree with them. Especially in your case. I remember when you looked into your mom's case before. I thought you were going to go down that rabbit hole and never come back up."

"Roy, please. This is why I became a cop. You let me investigate it before."

"I let you read the file before, Detective Beckett. And you found nothing. You talked to everyone you could think of, you spent way too much time at the crime scene and you found nothing. And, One PP will never, I repeat, never let you on this case."

"Can you at least tell me what they found to reopen the case?"

Montgomery looked at her for what seemed to be a very long time. Finally, he spoke. "It'll be in the news anyway. Do you remember the rape and murder of Andrea Schiller?"

She shook her head.

"No reason you should have. It took place over ten years ago, when you were still in the academy. It was another unsolved. Then, last year, a forensic pathologist, Dr. Clark Murray, was doing a statistical analysis of unsolveds in New York. He's one of the best forensic pathologists in the country. He had Ms. Schiller's file and he noticed that while there was DNA evidence, it had never been processed. He sent it off and got a hit, a career criminal named Michael Woll. It turned out that Woll was arrested for bashing some guy's head in during a bar brawl right after the murder. Woll did two years upstate. If we'd done the DNA testing at once, we would have had him. But, by then he'd been released and was in the wind. It was just by luck that he was captured in a routine traffic stop in Colorado some months ago."

"Excuse me, Roy, but how does this relate to my mom's case?"

"I'm getting to that. Andrea Schiller's brother is Bud Schiller, columnist for the Ledger. Probably the most widely read columnist in the city. When he found out about what happened, he went ballistic. He wrote column after column calling the NYPD every name in the book: Incompetent, lazy, uncaring, stupid and anything else he could come up with. He demanded that the mayor set up a special commission headed by Dr. Murray to review all unsolveds with any forensic evidence. The mayor wants to be reelected, he wants the Ledger to endorse him and he does not want Bud Schiller calling him all sorts of names. So, we how have a commission run by Dr. Murray. He has a bunch of MEs and investigators from the NYPD, and of all people, the author Richard Castle."

"One PP must be happy about that." Kate commented sarcastically. "But why Castle? He's a good author, but…"She left the rest unsaid.

"Castle's a friend of both the mayor and Dr. Murray. As I understand it, his main job is PR. And keeping Bud Schiller off the mayor's back. Castle knows the press, he gets along with them, and he's very personable. All things Dr. Murray is not."

"Of course, One PP is furious, but the mayor has made up his mind. The commission began work about a month ago. They found something on your mom's case."

"What?" Kate leaned forward, eager to hear what had been found.

"He found three other unsolveds that had been murdered at around the time your mom was killed. The other three were killed in the same manner as your mom. A killing blow to the kidney, followed by apparently random stab wounds to cover up the lethal blow."

"You think it's a serial?"

Montgomery shook his head. "Two of the dead were women who knew your mother. They were lawyers and one was a student of your mom's. One was a documents clerk at the court house. Whatever document he had requested is gone and there's no record of it anywhere. Dr. Murray thinks all four were a targeted assassination."

Kate sat there stunned. The idea that her mother had been killed by a professional killer had never occurred to her.

"Kate, now that One PP has new evidence, they've turned the case over to two detectives from the Six Two, John Boyle and Harry Parker. I know them. They're good. They'll find whoever did this."

Montgomery smiled. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off, Beckett?"

Kate rose and shook her head. "I still need to finish up the paperwork on the Duncan case." She said softly.

She stared at the paperwork for some minutes, once back at her desk. She finally turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Do you two know a couple of detectives from the Six Two named Boyle and Parker?"

Ryan nodded. "I know Boyle personally and I know Parker by reputation. Why?"

"Are they any good?"

Ryan nodded slowly. "Yeah, they're very good."

"Not as good as us, but good." Espo put in. "Why?"

"Nothing." Kate said distractedly.

When she went home that night, Kate thought about taking out the copy of her mother's case file that she had hidden away. _No_. She thought. _I know there's nothing there. Any new information won't be there. I won't go down the rabbit hole again._

But it took a long time for Kate to fall asleep that night.

She had pushed her mom's case out of her mind by the time she'd finished her coffee at her desk the next day.

"Do you have a minute, Beckett?" Roz Karpowski asked.

"Sure, Roz. What is it?"

"You were asking about Boyle and Parker from the Six Two yesterday?"

"Yeah. But Ryan and Espo told me they were good."

" _We're_ is right. When Boyle's wife dumped him last year, the two of them decided they'd put in their papers at the end of this year, move to Florida and do nothing but drink beer and fish. They're getting a head start on their retirement. All they do now is drink beer and look at ads for boats on the internet. They're officially useless."

Kate suddenly became concerned. "Are you sure?"

Roz nodded. "I'm good friends with Magda Kaminski over in the Six Two. She's been bitching for months about all the extra work she has to do because those bozos do nothing all day long. Their captain is letting them slide because they'll be gone before he can get through all the paperwork he'd have to do to kick their useless asses up around their shoulders."

"Thanks, Roz." Kate said, getting up and heading for Roy Montgomery's office.

Fifteen minutes later she walked back out, very unhappy. Roy's answer boiled down to two things: Even if the rumor was true, the two detectives worked for Dr. Murray. It was his job to decide if they were up to the job or not; and Roy was not about to bad mouth another Captain's people on a job that didn't concern the 12th Precinct.

Kate was still seething with anger when she got home that night. She had bought a copy of the Ledger, which she rarely read, and looked for Bud Schiller's column. Sure enough, the whole column was about Dr. Murray and his commission. As far as Kate could tell, Schiller thought everyone in the commission walked on water. As she was closing the paper, an item on Page Six caught her eye. There was Richard Castle with some top heavy blonde on his arm, leaving an expensive restaurant. Kate smiled. She had an idea.

There was a knock on Rick Castle's door. He wasn't expecting anyone, but he never knew who might be coming to see him. He smiled in anticipation. To a certain extent, he loved the surprises that Manhattan always had for him. He opened the door to find a gorgeous young woman standing there.

"Mr. Castle? I'm Detective Kate Beckett, Homicide, 12th Precinct. May I come in? I need to talk you."

Castle suppressed a groan and stood back so the lovely detective could enter. Hoping that this wasn't what he thought it was, he asked politely, "How can I help you, Detective Beckett?"

"You're investigating the murder of my mother, Johanna Beckett. I want to work on the case. I can be of assistance because…"

"No." Castle said firmly.

Beckett glared at him. "You could at least hear me out."

"I've heard all about you from your captain, Roy Montgomery. He told me that under no circumstances were you to be allowed anywhere near this case. He told me what this case has cost you and what it almost cost you. The answer is no. I'm sorry."

"Will you at least hear my side of it. Don't you owe me that much?"

Castle sighed. "Come in and sit down. May I take your coat?"

Kate handed over her coat and sat on a sofa.

"I was pouring myself a Scotch. Can I offer you anything?"

"Do you have coffee?"

"I have an espresso machine. Is a latte okay?" Rick busied himself at the machine while Kate organized her thoughts.

In a few minutes, Castle handed her a latte, then sat across from her on another sofa. Kate took a deep breath and began her tale. She told of finding out about her mom's death, her withdrawal from Stanford, her entrance into the police academy, her unsuccessful search for new evidence about her mom's death, and her year of therapy. She also mentioned Boyle and Parker's premature start of their retirement.

"Aren't you afraid you'll go down that "rabbit hole", as you call it, again, if this new evidence leads nowhere?" Castle asked, being as sympathetic as he could be.

"No." She said, shaking her head. "I've learned my lesson. I knew after a couple of months that there was nothing useful in my mom's file. I just refused to give up. I know how to give up when there's nothing there."

"Detective Beckett, you know I don't have the authority to get you assigned to the case. Dr. Murray doesn't know anything about NYPD detectives, so even if we found out that these two do have the problems you mention I suppose Dr. Murray could ask for you, but given how close you are to the case, I'm sure he'd agree you shouldn't be on your mother's case. I'm sorry."

Kate had other ideas, however. She stood up and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. "Mr. Castle, I can be very good to you. I can give you all sorts of reasons why I should be on the case." She unbuttoned the second button, showing a lacy black bra underneath. She took a step towards Castle. "Let me show you what I can do." She said in a husky voice.

"No." Castle said, standing up himself.

She undid another button. "I know I'm not as beautiful as the other women you've been with, but I know…"

"No." He said firmly. "Detective Beckett, you're as beautiful as any woman I've ever dated, and you have a brain, which puts you ahead of half of them. But, I have standards. For one, I don't date married women. My first marriage ended when I walked in on my wife in bed with another man. Secondly, I don't date women who want something from me." He grinned." Okay, if they want a great dinner at a five star restaurant, a night on the town ending with fantastic sex, I'm their man. But I don't date women who want me to get their book published, or who want me to get them a part in a play, or who want to investigate a murder I'm involved with."

"So, the Page Six playboy has standards?" Kate said sarcastically.

"Sometimes I even surprise myself." Castle admitted. "Let me get your coat for you, Detective Beckett."

"Um, could I use your bathroom first?" Kate said.

Rick sighed. "Through there and to the left."

He stood there for several minutes until he saw Kate Beckett come out. His eyes widened in shock and he dropped her coat. Kate Beckett walked into his living room wearing only a pair of high heels and a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Turn About

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: How do I not own Castle? Let me count the ways. Rating: K Time: Somewhat AU.

 **Author's note: The last sentence of the first chapter certainly attracted people's attention.**

"What do you think you're doing?" He gasped.

Kate smiled and took a selfie with her camera. "I'm taking pictures of myself absolutely naked in your loft, Mr. Castle. And, I'm e-mailing them to my home computer. Just imagine what Bud Schiller will think when he sees pictures of the daughter of one of the victims naked with you." Kate quickly took a picture of Castle. "I know your expression is shock and anger, but it just might look like lust."

Kate laughed and sat on the couch. She spread her long, toned legs as far apart as she could and took a video of herself. "If that doesn't break the internet, nothing will."

"Beckett! Stop! Stop right now."

She smiled at him. "Of course I'll stop. Just as soon as you agree to take me on as an investigator."

"How am I supposed to do that? "Castle demanded. "The NYPD is never going to let you be a part of the investigation. You know that, don't you?"

"I have lots and lots of vacation time. I'll just tell Captain Montgomery that reopening my mom's case has upset me so much that I can't concentrate on my duties. He'll give me all the time I need without you ever having to tell One PP anything."

"I don't have the authority to make you an investigator."

Kate walked to the window and opened the drapes. "Can anyone see me from up here? Or are naked women so common in your loft that no one will notice." She took more selfies.

"I told you I can't…."

"Then call Dr. Murray and tell him to bring me in as an investigator on my mom's case." Kate snapped.

Castle clenched his fists and then relaxed. _I can't believe I'm trying to get a beautiful, naked woman out of my loft_. He thought. "Okay. You win. I'll call him. Now will you please get dressed?"

"Call him now. You don't need to tell him how I convinced you unless it's necessary. Then I'll get dressed."

Castle called Dr. Murray, and without mentioning naked Kate, managed to convince the doctor rather easily.

He hung up his phone. "Okay. You heard me. You're in. Now get dressed and get out of here."

Kate walked slowly to the bathroom to get her clothes. Once inside, she nearly threw up. _My god. I can't believe I did that. And I can't believe that playboy Richard Castle didn't take the opportunity to sleep with me. I had a few meaningless flings in college, but since Mom died, I couldn't let anyone get even that close, but I just offered to sleep with a man for….what? Justice? Revenge? I just hope that what I did just now does some good. I hope Mom understands why I did what I did._

She dressed slowly and walked out to find Castle standing at the door, holding her coat. He handed it to her, not helping her on with it.

"Thank you, Mr. Castle." She said quietly.

"You're thanking me? You blackmailed me into this." He said angrily.

Kate frowned. "Blackmail? I think I'd call it extortion, not blackmail. Good night, Mr. Castle."

Once she was gone, Castle headed for his bar and poured himself a double. He downed it in two gulps.

 _Whatever happens, I've just met a fascinating and determined woman. Very determined. And very sexy. What a character she'd make._ A slow smile spread across his face and he headed for his laptop.

Kate called Montgomery the next morning. As she had thought, he understood and told her to take as much time off as she needed. That done, she headed for the commission's office. She was greeted by Dr. Murray.

"Detective Beckett. I'm glad you could join us. I don't wish to insult the NYPD, but you'd have to be an improvement over the two that were working your mother's case for us. And Rick has spoken very highly of your abilities and the depth of your commitment to this case, it being personal and all. I know One PP doesn't approve of officers being involved in cases where they have personal stake, but I've always found a personal interest to be helpful. I'm glad Rick recommended you so highly."

Kate was so shocked, she spoke without thinking. "He did?"

Dr. Murray was surprised. "Are you surprised that he did?"

Kate quickly recovered. "It's just that he hardly knows me. I'm surprised he has such a high opinion of me after such a short time knowing me."

Murray smiled. "You'll find Rick is a very good judge of character. Why don't you join him and he can bring you up to speed on what we've found." Dr. Murray pointed to a small glass enclosed office where the author was sitting.

Kate quickly sat across from Rick. "You recommended me highly to Dr. Murray?"

"Did you expect me to tell the truth? "Clark, there she was, stark naked, waving her boobs around, and threatening to send selfies to Bud Schiller." That wouldn't have made either of us look very good."

"Mr. Castle, I'm sorry, but everything I told you is true. My mom's murder is why I left Stanford and a possible law career and became a homicide cop. You have no idea how badly I wanted this assignment."

Castle smirked. "I had a pretty good idea last night."

Kate smiled back. "Oh, that was just Plan B. I had a lot more things in mind if that didn't work, Mr. Castle."

"If we're going to be working together, you should call me Rick."

Kate nodded. "Then call me Kate. Where do we start?"

"Where Dumb and Dumber were with the knife. Dr. Murray made a casting of the knife used in all four murders and identified it. The two detectives found nothing, so we're going to look again."

Six hours later, Rick closed the last folder concerning the knife. "The knife was favored by special ops people on Gulf War One. Also by about a gazillion trout fishermen, a group of eccentric whittlers in Texas, and an old lady in Des Moines who used it to chase off three burglars. The knives were never bought directly by the military. They were bought by individual soldiers, or sometimes a small group would get together and buy a bunch. And since no one keeps records of knife sales beyond which retailer gets them, this was a complete waste of time."

"But we had to look." Kate reminded him.

"Whee!" Rick said sarcastically.

"This is about my mother's death, in case you've forgotten." Kate said sharply.

"I'm sorry." Rick said. "Look, I've never lost someone as close as your mother was to you, but I have lost people who were close to me. I want to solve all of these murders. I just revert to sarcasm when I get stressed sometimes. Again, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I know you could be out bar hopping with some gorgeous woman, but instead you're here with me. I do appreciate that you're here."

Rick smiled. "Well, checking files with a beautiful woman isn't bad, you know."

Kate blushed slightly. "What's next?"

"We'll review cases with similar MOs, and unsolveds by suspected contract killers. The FBI was kind enough to give us a hand." Rick gestured to a steel cart approaching them, piled so high with cases that whoever was pushing it couldn't be seen. "And that's just the first cart. There's no reason to think a hitman would stay in New York City."

Kate groaned.

For the rest of that day and into the next, they went over files covering killings all over the country.

"This is getting us nowhere." Castle said. "For one thing, a hit man may work in Mexico, or Asia or Europe, and there's no reason he has to use a knife all the time. If he's after some cartel big shot, he'll use a sniper rifle or an assault rifle or a...a…a…" Castle stopped.

"Or a machine gun, or a grenade launcher, or a flame thrower?" Kate finished for him. "So, do you want to just quit?" She challenged him.

"No, I don't want to quit. As I told you, I have this old-fashioned notion that people who murder other people ought to pay for it. But we're getting nowhere." He picked up a file." This could be out killer, but how would we know? Just because he used a certain kind of knife? Or because some cop thought it was a mob related hit?" Castle looked at the file more closely. "But this isn't your mom's killer. A fourteen year-old girl stabbed a neighbor to death because she said he was trying to rape her. However, because he was a "good Christian" and she was dressed "provocatively", she was convicted." Castle shook his head. "And she was fourteen. She would have been just out of diapers when your mom died." He smiled. "Maybe a midget with a diaper on? Good place for a killer to conceal a weapon. I'll have to remember that for the book."

Kate's head shot up. "You're writing another Derrick Storm novel? How far along are you?"

Castle sat back and looked at her. "A fan. A Richard Castle fan. Nice to meet you. What's your favorite book of mine?"

Kate blushed and looked away. "My mother had all of your books. After she died, I started reading them. It made me feel closer to her. And I kept reading them because…" She turned her back on Castle and struggled not to cry.

"Kate, I promise you, I'll send you an advanced copy of every book I write from now on. I'll autograph each one. I'll autograph the ones you have now."

Kate turned back to him. She had herself under control now. "But you are writing another Derrick Storm book?"

"No. I quit writing Storm because he became too predictable. I knew what was going to happen from the first time I started typing. Writing Derrick Storm wasn't fun anymore. It was work."

Kate grinned. "Oh no! Not work? The horror!"

"I'm so glad you understand." Castle shot back.

"So what are you writing?"

"It's about a NYPD homicide detective. She's dedicated, fierce, smart, with haunting good looks. And kind of slutty."

"Slutty?" Kate glared at him.

"Sure. The kind of a girl who'd offer sex to a complete stranger to get what she wants. Or walk around his loft bare assed naked, taking selfies of herself."

Kate said nothing for a while. "I suppose I deserve that." She said quietly.

"No you don't. Nikki will never, ever, do anything like that."

"Nikki?"

"Her first name. I haven't come up with her last name yet. Nikki Manhattan? Nikki Wild? Nikki Ferrari? Nikki Hard? Nikki Diamond? Nikki Sweet? Nikki Holmes? Nikki Marlowe? I'll think of something."

"Something better than those names, I hope." Kate said, but with a smile.

Castle just smirked.

Kate went on. "But you're right. There are no murders that could be related to my mom's murder anywhere in New York at that time. We are wasting our time with these cases. There are just to damned many. We can't see the one tree we need for the forest."

"Oh, very good twist on an old saying. I'll use it in the book if I can find a place. But, what do we do now?"

"Let's try interviewing the next of kin of the victims. If our two predecessors did a bad job on everything else, I'm sure they did a lousy job with the next of kin."

They talked to friends, relatives and coworkers of the four deceased, but were getting nowhere. Years had passed, memories had faded, records had been lost or thrown out. A secretary who had worked with Kate's mom had thought she had looked upset just before she had been killed. An intensive interrogation, a review of her mom's records and talks with other people Johann Beckett had worked with finally allowed them to narrow the date down.

"Dammit!" Kate muttered as they drove. "All that and it was the McKeon case. Mom thought Mr. McKeon was going to murder his wife. That's why she was upset. And that was two years before her death. All that for nothing."

"The secretary was trying to help. She just got her dates badly mixed up. It happened the year her younger sister got married, not the year her older sister got divorced. But, we have a new person to interview."

"Again." Kate grumped.

Castle took out his notebook. "Mrs. Allison Farley, whose brother, our court clerk, was….."

"Shit!" Kate said angrily.

"He may not have been perfect, Kate, but he was hardly…"

"No. The car ahead of us."

Ahead of them was a police Crown Vic. One that Kate knew quite well. As she pulled in behind it, Captain Roy Montgomery got out. He was not a happy man. Both Rick and Kate got out of her car.

"Detective Beckett! I got a call from Mrs. Farley yesterday thanking me for sending that nice Detective Beckett to interview her about her brother's death. She was very apologetic that she broke down yesterday and couldn't complete the interview. Just what in the hell do you think you're doing? Did you think I was just joking when I said you were NOT to get involved in this case? Well?"

"Captain, this is my fault…." Kate began.

"No, it's my fault." Castle cut her off. "I approved of her coming onto the case."

"You don't have the authority to assign an NYPD detective to anything, Castle." Roy yelled.

"No, but I do." No one had noticed a cab pull up and Dr. Murray get out.

"Is there some reason you couldn't have mentioned that to the NYPD?" Montgomery asked sarcastically.

"Yes, there is. The NYPD assigned two drunks to work Johanna Beckett's murder. I got no work out of them and I never met with them without smelling alcohol on their breaths. I know just how unhappy One PP is to have an outsider running murder investigations and I knew if I complained to the NYPD, we'd just get in a giant pissing contest that we'd both lose. However, Mr. Castle informed me that there was an excellent detective already involved in the case. And while the NYPD seems to think that being personally involved in a case is a bad thing, I think it's a good thing. Believe me, I've gotten far more work out of Detective Beckett than those two clowns you sent me. I told Rick to bring Detective Beckett in on the case and I told her to keep that fact from you so that I wasn't being harassed by One PP."

Smelling a very large rat, Montgomery turned to Castle. "And just how did you know about Detective Beckett?"

"Research. It's what I do. It was easy to find out that Johanna Beckett's daughter had become a cop to solve her mother' case. Then I checked her background. She's a brilliant detective. You're very lucky to have her."

"She'll be lucky to be a detective once One PP finds out about this. I can't protect you from this, Kate."

"Do you see the blue van parked down the street?" Dr. Murray suddenly asked.

Montgomery was too much of a professional to look. "What about it?"

"It's registered to the Ledger. They've been following my other teams, but they seem to be spending a lot of time on Mr. Castle and Detective Beckett. I'm sure they'll interview us at some point. It makes a great human interest story, don't you think? A daughter investigating her mother's murder? I'd suggest you contact One PP and have them get ready to take credit for that brilliant idea."

Captain Montgomery sighed. "I'll take you off vacation effective the day you began so you don't lose any vacation time, Kate. I just hope this works. For all of our sakes."

"Me too." Kate said, as Roy got back in his car and left.

"What are you doing here anyway, Clark?" Rick asked.

"I like to check up on my field teams once in a while. Now shall we go see if Detective Beckett is as good an interrogator as you say she is. I must say I'm anxious to see her in action."

"Believe me, Clark, seeing Beckett in action is something you'll never forget."

Kate blushed and glared at Rick.

Mrs. Farley was unable to give them any further leads. One by one, the few leads they had turned into dead ends. Finally, one day, Rick and Kate were sitting alone in the bullpen, looking at a stack of files.

"Looking at it won't do us any good, Castle. We both know that there's nothing else there. We're done and the case is done. We found nothing."

"I'm sorry, Kate. I really am. I hoped we'd get whoever killed your mother."

She smiled at him. "That's sweet of you, Castle. But I learned one thing from the first time I investigated my mom's case. I know when to stop. I'm not going to obsess over this and go down a rabbit hole. I'm done." She took his hand in hers. "And I'm afraid our partnership is over. You've been a good partner. I appreciate everything you've done for me, Rick."

"About that. I'd like to keep shadowing you. For research for my book."

She shook her head. "Castle, what I do can be very dangerous. I can't let you put yourself in a position where you could get hurt or killed. Besides, One PP would never go for it. Never."

"Let me worry about One PP. Come on, Kate. You know we're good partners. I can help you with your cases. I did some good work on some of the other cases Dr. Murray got. In fact, you said we'd never have solved one without my help."

"That was one case, Rick. You could get hurt and I won't take the chance."

"I know how to change your mind."

"How?" She challenged.

"I'll how up at your apartment, take off all my clothes and start taking selfies."

"Castle! You said you'd never mention that!"

"I won't mention what you did, but I will post selfies of myself in your place."

"I won't let you in."

He shrugged. "I can come here and do a strip tease in the bullpen. Imagine how Karpowski would like that. And Stegner. Or I could follow you to a crime scene, one with a lot of reporters."

"You wouldn't!"

"You do recall that I was once arrested for riding a police horse while naked?"

"You would!"

"Kate, just accept it. I'm going to be your partner. And confess. You want me to be your partner."

"That's blackmail."

"More like extorsion. My partner taught me that."

Kate glared at him. "Your partner should learn to keep her mouth closed."

Castle just laughed. "And don't worry, partner, Nikki Heat will never do anything that will embarrass you. And she'll always catch the killer."

"Nikki Heat?"

"The name of my new character. The homicide detective."

"Change it, Castle. That's not a cop name. it's a stripper's name."

"I can't change it."

"Yes you can."

 **To Guest: Crap is spelled C-R-A-P. Nice try, though.**


	3. Chapter 3

Turn About

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: How do I not own Castle? Let me count the ways. Rating: K Time: Somewhat AU.

 **Epilog**

Kate Beckett hurried down the red carpet, trying not to look at all of the cameramen. When she heard someone yell, "Hey! It's Nikki Heat." She cringed mentally. She was not Nikki Heat and she never would be. She was sure there was to be no more Nikki Heat, anyway. Castle would stop writing about her and write about a certain British secret agent. She would become just one of the many people he knew. He'd get in touch with her if he needed something. If then.

She found herself in the middle of the book launch.

"You clean up nice, Detective." Roy Montgomery said.

"Thank you, sir."

"Castle is going to be glad to see you. Have you read the dedication?"

"No. What does it say?"

"Go see for yourself. Excuse me."

Kate went over to a table covered in copies of _Heat Wave_ and opened a book. She read the dedication: To the extraordinary KB and all my friends at the 12th.

 _Oh my god_. She thought. _He thinks I'm extraordinary."_

She turned around to look for Rick, but couldn't find him. Finally, she spotted the top of his head, behind a giant stack of his new books. As she got closer, she saw he was talking to dark haired woman. She walked towards them but stopped dead just on the other side of the books when she heard their conversation.

"Rick, be real. I worked my butt off getting you that deal. You always loved him, the women, the gadgets, the bizarre supervillains, the whole schtick. And now you want to throw it all away? Can't you just sleep with her and get her out of your system?"

"Paula, sleeping with her would _not_ get her out of my system. The exact opposite."

"God! You care for her? You really care for her?"

Rick laughed. "I do, but to tell you the truth, I have no idea how she feels about me."

"There's still hope then?" Paula said.

Kate didn't wait to hear what Castle would say. She hurried back to the other stack of books and resumed looking at the dedication.

"Hey." Castle said, coming up behind her.

"Hey. I was just, uh, the dedication. Wow. Thank you."

"I meant it. You are extraordinary. Listen…"

"But not extraordinary enough to keep you writing Nikki Heat?" She interrupted

Castle is taken aback by the question. "Uh, about that…."

"You _are_ going to write about that British spy, _aren't_ you?"

Castle looked around as if looking for help. This is not how he thought the night would go." I may not. Probably won't." He blurted.

"Why not?"

Castle tried to play for time. _Is Beckett mad at me for not leaving her to write about the spy or what?_ "It's been done to death. The original books, the books by other authors, the movies. I tried to come up with something new, you know. A different super villain, a different sexy lady with a bizarre but sexy name…."

"Like Nikki Heat. You had no trouble with that name."

Castle ignored that. "Everything I tried to write about, you know, just to see what it was like, seemed like a retread of an old movie plot, an old book, or worse yet, something out of Derrick Storm."

Kate finally took pity on him. "Castle, we need to talk. "She took his hand and pulled him down a hallway and to a small, empty office. She closed the door behind them.

"You want to write more Nikki Heat, don't you? You want to write about me."

"Beckett, I…." He got no further because Kate Beckett's tongue was in his mouth.

She broke the kiss. "I heard you talking to Paula. She's your agent, right?"

Castle could only nod.

"I've had a wall of sorts around my heart since my mom died. I've been afraid to let anyone get close to me for fear of the hurt if I lost them. Now, I want to change that. It won't be easy, you know that, Castle. You know what I'm like." Kate smiled at him and softened her voice. "This dress is so tight, that I wasn't able to wear anything under it. If you just pull down the zipper and…."

"No!" Castle said sharply. Then, seeing the hurt in her eyes, he went on. "Not here. Not like this. You mean too much to me for that."

"You want me to get the full Castle treatment? A meal at some five star restaurant, a night on the town, and then spectacular sex?"

"Exactly. It's less than you deserve. I'll never be able to give you all that you deserve."

She laughed. "We'll compromise. We'll have a night at the book launch, then spectacular sex at my place and then I'll cook breakfast for you."

"Do we have to go to the book launch?" He said, letting a bit of a whine into his voice.

Kate opened the door and stepped back out into the hallway. She looked over her shoulder at Castle. "Coming, Castle?"

 **Author's note:**

 **I'm still working slowly, but surely, on the third part of After Much Ado About Murder, being the adventures of Sir Richard and Lady Katherine in Renaissance Italy. I'm more than halfway done, I think. However, I get ideas and add things and go back and change things, so I'm never quite sure of where I am in a story. But right now, Sir Richard is negotiating with a bandit lord. How does he get into these things?**


End file.
